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The Problem with AMP

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Re: The Problem with AMP

#121

Post by notatoad »

ejcx wrote: post #29

One thing I love about AMP, that seems to never be mentioned when people discuss it, is viewing AMP-HTML pages on my laptop. I wrote a small chrome extension that always forwards my page to the equivalent AMP page (if one exists) and the experience of reading the news is so much better. AMP pages off mobile are really really amazing. Compare Non-AMP[0] vs AMP[1] [0] http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Trump-on-the-…

The only problem with that (and with amp in general) is the few sites that implement it poorly, namely by simply installing a WordPress plugin and calling it a day with zero effort to test the implementation. Some sites are completely broken.

On the normal implementation, clicking links on mobile from Google search, this is mostly not a problem because you're unlikely to land on some random guy's WordPress from a serp. But if you're triggering a lookup of AMP wherever it's available, you end up on a lot of broken sites clicking links from reddit and HN and stack overflow sources.

I've found a better compromise is an extension that doesn't load amp by default, but just puts a button in your toolbar that you can request an amp version with.

Re: The Problem with AMP

#122

Post by EpicEng »

flukus wrote: post #90
conductr wrote: post #18

On AMP page, clicking the X on the header box should load the HTML page. Instead it kicks you back to the search results. I think I would be okay if they fixed that one thing.

That would likely confuse normal users more: "What do you mean I have to close the page to open the page properly?".

Why would clicking the x on a header lead anyone to believe that the entire page ('tab') would be closed? That's not how... any other page element works.

The first time I encountered an AMP page I figured clicking the x would load the actual page. I was wrong.

Re: The Problem with AMP

#123

Post by tehlike »

balls187 wrote: post #109
tehlike wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am really curious if an ordinary user gets frustrated with AMP as much as an HN reader does. PS: Not intending to be sarcastic. PS2: I work for google, but not on something amp related.

Why does it matter if a user is an HN reader or not?

it does, because we care about a number of things, including: 1. Technical implementation (and alternative ways of implementation). 2. Freedom (keeping things within google's walled-garden or not)

Your average user (who doesn't necessarily know anything about software) doesn't really care about 1, and probably doesn't care about 2. They care about speed of the page, data consumption of the page, and maybe the look-and-feel of the page (bloated vs sane).

When I say HN user, i mean technically informed and most often skeptic people.

The distinction matters.

Re: The Problem with AMP

#124

Post by tehlike »

arjie wrote: post #107
tehlike wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am really curious if an ordinary user gets frustrated with AMP as much as an HN reader does. PS: Not intending to be sarcastic. PS2: I work for google, but not on something amp related.

I love amp. Loads fast. It's so fast, it almost feels native.

One of the reasons Google (and FB with instant articles) came out with is the speed, and data consumption, which matters a lot more in some countries than in others.

Re: The Problem with AMP

#125

Post by niftich »

conductr wrote: post #18

On AMP page, clicking the X on the header box should load the HTML page. Instead it kicks you back to the search results. I think I would be okay if they fixed that one thing.

I pick 'none of the above'. The 'x' in the header box should make the damn header go away, keeping the rest of the page 100% intact.

Mind you, this just proves that the header is superfluous. Existing technology called 'the back button' exists to take the user back to where they came from, and it's up to Google to decide how their results page behaves when this happens.

Re: The Problem with AMP

#126

Post by NamTaf »

balls187 wrote: post #109
tehlike wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am really curious if an ordinary user gets frustrated with AMP as much as an HN reader does. PS: Not intending to be sarcastic. PS2: I work for google, but not on something amp related.

Why does it matter if a user is an HN reader or not?

The use cases between both groups may be substantially different. Understanding this helps us not draw conclusions from 'how HN users use stuff' and incorrectly applying them to 'how all users use stuff'.

Re: The Problem with AMP

#127

Post by conductr »

niftich wrote: post #125
conductr wrote: post #18

On AMP page, clicking the X on the header box should load the HTML page. Instead it kicks you back to the search results. I think I would be okay if they fixed that one thing.

I pick 'none of the above'. The 'x' in the header box should make the damn header go away, keeping the rest of the page 100% intact. Mind you, this just proves that the header is superfluous. Existing technology called 'the back button' exists to take the user back to where they came from, and it's up to Google to decide how their results page behaves when this happens.

You're right. Suppose I've become used to clicking on AMP links without realizing it so when I click X I really just want off of AMP. I really have no need to simply dismiss the bar, I can scroll down more easily.

Re: The Problem with AMP

#128

Post by conductr »

ec109685 wrote: post #101
conductr wrote: post #18

On AMP page, clicking the X on the header box should load the HTML page. Instead it kicks you back to the search results. I think I would be okay if they fixed that one thing.

It should be what cloudflare does: clicking on the site name in the header should take the user to the non amp version of the page.

That seems more reasonable

Re: The Problem with AMP

#129

Post by flukus »

EpicEng wrote: post #122
flukus wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would likely confuse normal users more: "What do you mean I have to close the page to open the page properly?".

Why would clicking the x on a header lead anyone to believe that the entire page ('tab') would be closed? That's not how... any other page element works. The first time I encountered an AMP page I figured clicking the x would load the actual page. I was wrong.

Because x means close/cancel. Looking at chrome right now there are several x's on screen, they will close the tab or the whole browser.
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